In the catering and fast food industries many different food products are purchased in plastic bags, pouches, bladders and bag-in-box containers. Examples of such typical food products include tomato products, citrus products, soft drink syrups, fruit purees, fruit sauces and flavouring. These types of containers are advantageous over other packaging containers because they can be used in ambient, hot fill and aseptic process applications. Additionally, such containers are light weight, easy to transport and cost efficient process.
Typically these plastic bags, pouches, bladders and bag-in-box containers are made from a combination of polymer materials which may, in some instances, be coated with or contain gas barrier materials. The bags or pouches are generally fitted with a plastic pouring spout which is rigidly attached to the bag. The spout is sealed by a cap. The cap is arranged to be secured to the spout in a manner whereby it can be “snapped off” mechanically prior to filling the bag with product and then reapplied or “snapped on” by applying a downward force onto the cap and the axially aligned spout. The cap has a centrally located plug which seals the spout and a skirt extending from the top of the cap. The skirt is provided to prevent foreign matter from entering the exterior of the spout. It is standard practice for the plug to engage in the aperture of the spout in a manner whereby an hermetic seal is formed.
As stated above, during the filling operation the cap is removed mechanically. Removal typically is achieved using a mechanical jaw to uncap the cap. However, when the product is used by the end user, the cap must be removed manually. Given the nature of the connection between the plug and the spout and the configuration thereof, it is extremely difficult to remove the cap by hand. Considerable force is required to lever the cap off the spout. As these types of bags are used in many of the fast food chains, typically, the person trying to remove the cap is a youth who may not be strong enough to remove the cap. In order to overcome this problem uncapping tools are sometimes used. However, it is still quite difficult to remove the cap and often the uncapping tool can't be found when needed.
It is also quite common for users to slash the bag to empty the product, rather than remove the cap and pour the product through the spout. Although this is not a problem when the entire contents of the bag are to be used, in some situations it is desirable to only use a small proportion of the contents and to store the remainder in the bag in a refrigerator. This is particularly a concern to caterers who have a limited turnover. In other situations, it is necessary to pour the contents into a dispenser and thus is not particularly desirable to slash the bag.
The present invention seeks in one aspect to provide an improved cap which can be easily removed by hand from the spout of the bag or container while still enabling the cap to be removed and replaced mechanically on a filling machine.